Bloomberg On Daines

Mayor Bloomberg said the following earlier today about the sudden and untimely death of former state Health Commissioner Richard Daines:

“I just wanted to start out by saying I just got some news earlier, Richard Daines died over the weekend.”

“He was the state health commissioner. I don’t know whether he was appointed by Paterson or Spitzer – was it Paterson – but he was a really quality guy who I thought really had the public’s interest at heart, and had the intellect to really change this country.”

“And I was very sorry to hear it. I don’t know the circumstances of his death, but whatever it is- somebody thought he had a heart attack, I don’t know, on his farm upstate.”

Bloomberg and Daines were on the same page (eventually) when it came to the controversial soda tax, which the former health commissioner championed long after it was quite clear the measure had no prayer of moving in the Legislature.

Generally speaking, the two shared a belief that government had a responsibility to try to change the behavior of constituents – regardless of whether they were interested in having their habits altered – to try to improve their health and also reduce long-term expenditures on health care.